Without Words
by the-clarity-organism
Summary: Two-shot acting as a continuation of the-enigma-machine's Mute Metal drabbles. Contains WereMetonic and Metal being a cinnamon roll. Takes place during Unleashed.
1. Chapter 1 - Sleep Mode

The message was simple: _I need you to do me a favor._

Metal didn't often get sent messages from Tails, so he knew it must've been something important if he was contacting him over the one-sided communicator in his head.

 _You know how the world split apart and everything? I mean, of course you do, it'd be hard not to notice. Well, Sonic's been trying to fix it for a while, but I can't get him to relax!_

This was news to Metal, but made sense given that he hadn't seen Sonic in a few days. In a way, Metal was relieved, because it meant that Sonic hadn't been avoiding him. Yet, he was still concerned. Sonic refusing to relax? That wasn't like him at all!

 _Look, can you just come over? He'll listen to you._

He would? Really? Metal felt warmed at the idea that Sonic would listen to him over Tails, so much so that he completely ignored the fact that Tails had said "listen" when that was technically inaccurate, since Metal lacked a voice chip.

As he approached Tails' lab, he could hear three voices. The first one, he didn't recognize, but the second was Tails. The third, despite the rougher tone, was _definitely_ Sonic. Metal would know it anywhere.

He walked inside, trying to listen into the conversation.

"Sonic, I'm not saying you can't handle it! I'm saying you need a break!"

"I'm fine, Tails! I don't need a break!"

Metal immediately regretted taking an extra step forward, the two turning to him immediately. Sonic's familiar green eyes gazed into his own, but Metal took notice that the rest of his body was different than he remembered. There were claws where gloved fabric used to be, and fangs where there used to be none. He was bulkier, stronger...

and furrier. _Fur._ So much fur. He could bury his hand in all that fur.

Sonic must've noticed him staring, as he looked down at himself briefly, seeming embarrassed, then looked back at Tails. "You invited Mets here?"

"Well, what was I supposed to do? You won't listen to me!" Tails argued.

Sonic took another glance back at Metal. A creature Metal didn't recognize - small, burgundy, and white - flew over to Sonic, visibly saddened.

"It's okay, Sonic! I mean, I'm tired too, so why don't we both get some rest?"

Sonic shrugged. "You rest if you want to, but _I_ have a world to put back together."

Metal, though still processing Sonic's new appearance, could tell that he wasn't in top form. His fur was ruffled in places, as if he'd been in one too many fights. His eyes showed noticeable strain. Even his ears drooped ever so slightly; Metal doubted that anyone else could tell, but he knew that Sonic's ears flopped downwards when he was tired. Simply put, all signs pointed to a tired Sonic.

Metal approached, Sonic eyeing him with a raised brow. Metal grasped his hand, taking him along to the spare bedroom in Tails' lab.

"M-Mets, really, I'm _fine,_ " Sonic insisted; not annoyed, but stubborn.

Metal sat him down on the bed, Sonic rolling his eyes as Metal fumbled through the drawers. He pulled out a spare blanket, throwing it over Sonic's shoulders to help get his point across.

Sonic managed a smile. "Thanks, but I don't have time to rest, okay? Egghead breaking the world apart is my fault, and I gotta fix it." He paused, then gestured at himself. "And fix this too while I'm at it."

Metal let out a confused beep. Fix _what?_ Sonic had implied it to be himself, so he could've been referring to his current state, but Metal couldn't understand what needed to be fixed.

He tugged on Sonic's blanket, trying to show that he was insistent. Sonic chuckled in amusement, taking Metal's hand in his own. Metal was in awe of the size difference, and how scientifically impossible it seemed for such a large hand to be so gentle.

"I get it. You're worried about me like everyone else, but I can handle it. Come on, you've been crushing on me for a reason, right? I can do anything I put my mind to!"

Metal's optics flickered in embarrassment at Sonic mentioning his far-too-obvious crush. It was true; he'd fallen for Sonic due to his ability to do so much (and Sonic was not shy at all about teasing him for it). However, it wasn't the only reason. In fact, if Metal had been able to speak, he could've listed the exact percentages and statistics for how in love he was with each of Sonic's traits.

Maybe he'd give him a carefully structured diagram later, or a pie chart.

Sonic made another motion to get up, Metal acting on impulse and placing his hands on Sonic's chest to keep him down.

 _Soft._ His fur was soft. Metal's mock nervous system could tell.

Sonic sighed. "Mets, come on, I—" A yawn escaped him. "...Okay, maybe I'm a _little_ tired."

His sheepish gaze as he looked away was dangerous levels of cute. Metal tried to distract himself from it, but the only other thought in his head was the fur he still touched. His fingers curled inwards, bunching the fur into his palm.

Sonic raised a brow, watching him with confusion on his face. "What?" He grinned, Metal not missing the shine of his fangs. "Hey, I missed you too, but could we maybe hug when I _don't_ look like a monster?"

Metal met his gaze immediately, offended. Sonic had said it like he was stating the obvious, but Metal ran on logic, and Sonic's words were anything _but_ logical. Though Metal couldn't voice his objections, Sonic made a face as if he could.

"You don't think so?" he asked. Metal nodded, placing a hand on Sonic's shoulder; a gesture he associated with comfort from experience.

Sonic snorted. "You're weird."

He brought his hands down to Metal's sides, shifting and laying down on the bed as he lifted Metal onto his chest. Metal stared down at Sonic, who smiled lazily up at him.

"Fine. I'll sleep," he relented, hands moving away from Metal to relax on the bed. "But you're not going anywhere, got it? Otherwise, who's going to admire this apparently-handsome hunk of werehog?"

An immediate and understanding nod was his response. Sonic broke into a laughing fit.


	2. Chapter 2 - Overloaded Voice Chip

Despite the fact that Metal no longer worked for Eggman, he couldn't help being thankful that the doctor had made him waterproof. With the rain pouring down as hard as it was, he would've been a wreck had he not been immune to the stuff.

A Sonic detector would've been nice though. Metal very badly wanted to call for him, but with his voice chip the way it was, his best attempts were loud rapid beeping, which was both annoying to the wildlife and himself. It was frustrating, having Tails finally manage to make a voice chip for him, only to realize that it wasn't working, despite Tails stating that it should've been.

Thus, Metal kept searching on his own, in silence, looking for any potential sign of the hedgehog.

Or, well, hedgehog-turned-werehog. Honestly, it was the only thing that made Metal confident that he could find Sonic in a decent amount of time. If he could remember where Sonic had been the last time he saw him (and he always did), it was a simple task of calculating how far he could go in the time they'd spent apart and factoring that in with how long it'd take Metal to explore the corresponding area. If Metal had missed an entire daytime cycle without him, then it was much more difficult, but thankfully, Sonic had visited Tails right as the sun had set. This made the estimation easy for Metal.

He knew it wouldn't take long, and it didn't. He stopped when he saw Sonic off in the distance, sitting under a tree to shelter himself from the rainstorm. Chip - the creature that had been traveling with Sonic - was right next to him and took notice of Metal, flying off to give them some privacy. Metal approached Sonic, silently cursing the rain for keeping this beautiful soul from enjoying the day as he'd planned to. Sonic looked over at him, smiling his usual smile.

"Hey, Mets." The smile turned slightly sheepish. "You came looking for me, huh? Sorry. It started pouring and I... yeah." He gestured to his fur for emphasis.

Metal still couldn't comprehend why Sonic didn't approve of his werehog form. In this particular case, there was at least one reason, but Metal could think of a vast majority of other reasons to outweigh it. For one, no matter what anyone else said, Metal firmly believed that Sonic's werehog form was just as handsome - if not even more so - than his hedgehog form. He didn't care about anyone else's opinion; it was a scientific _fact._

Metal glanced up at the rain, then made few hand gestures to Sonic.

 _Umbrella?_

He always got straight to the point with his sign language. No need to waste his angel's time with unnecessary words.

Sonic waved a hand dismissively. "Nah, it's all right. I'll just wait for this to pass." It warmed Metal's non-existent heart to know that Sonic must've learned sign language for _him._

Sonic paused, thinking for a moment, then gestured an arm out for Metal. "You wanna wait with me?"

Metal's red eyes squinted. Was he _serious?_ That was a question that _honestly_ needed to be asked?

Metal strolled up without another gesture, climbing into Sonic's waiting arms and sitting between his legs. He heard a chuckle from above. "Yeah, probably should've guessed that."

Sonic leaned back, head resting against the bark of the tree. Metal felt bad that he couldn't be better conversation, but Sonic had once told him that it was comforting just to have someone to talk to, especially if it was him. Metal remembered being particularly thankful that day that Tails had upgraded his cooling system.

"I guess it's not all bad," Sonic commented, eyes pointed up at the sky. "I always liked the sound of rain. Plus, I've got you here." He laughed, reaching a hand over to hold Metal's. "Free bonding time, you know?"

Metal _knew_ that Sonic was aware of what he was doing. He was facing away from Sonic, but he could practically _feel_ the smirk on his face. He could _hear_ the playfulness in his voice.

And somehow, he couldn't help but love it. Sonic did all sorts of things with his emotions that no one else could, and he cherished it every time.

Metal brought his gaze down to the hand that was holding his, then trailed upwards to Sonic's arm, noting that it was slightly wet. Metal guessed that he hadn't been able to immediately take shelter. He moved his hand over to the patches of wet fur, feeling them in his fingers. The gears in his head churned; it was like a completely different texture!

Metal's hands were also wet, he realized. Wet from the rain. He brought both hands up, exploring Sonic's arm like it'd been his first time doing so, even though he'd done so at least one hundred and seventy-six times before. He would know, he kept count.

Sonic allowed Metal to do as he pleased, not minding at all. In fact, he often _liked_ having his fur felt, as long as it was Metal. It let him forget about whatever was on his mind and just generally helped him _relax._

He could also feel Metal's warmth in the moment. The robot was thoroughly flustered, and Sonic was fully aware of what would happen if he wrapped his arms around him.

He did it anyway, smiling contentedly. "You're warm..."

Metal squirmed in surprise at first, a stuttering beep following afterward. Even once he relaxed, he was sure he was burning up on the inside. He was amazed that Sonic didn't recoil from the heat.

This stupid, silly, _perfect_ werehog.

Sonic hummed, enjoying the embrace. "Want to know a secret?"

Another question that Metal was shocked to be asked. Knowing that his hands didn't have enough space to reply ''OF COURSE'' in the loudest manner sign language could offer, he simply nodded his head.

"I've known sign language for a while," Sonic admitted. "For a few years now."

Metal paused, wondering what this information meant for him. Sonic had never told him when he learned sign language, so he had just assumed he'd learned it after they'd become friends, since Sonic didn't seem to understand it before—

Wait.

Metal beeped, a single memory coming to mind. He'd still been working for Eggman. Orbot had called a code blue. He flew as quickly as possible towards Sonic, stopped, and signed...

 _"Kiss me,"_ Sonic murmured. "That's what you were trying to tell me, right?"

Metal wasn't sure how to proceed. At the time, it'd seemed like a good idea, but knowing as much as he did now, the statement had been far too direct for two who were supposed to be enemies.

Sonic sighed. "I guess I just didn't get it at the time." Metal flinched at the guilt in his voice, feeling his complement's arms tighten around him. "I didn't know how you felt. I shouldn't have left you there."

 _Pure._ He was too pure. Metal had no lungs, but Sonic's sweetness was _suffocating._

"Metal, look at me," Sonic said, voice as soft as his fur.

Metal turned, placing one hand on Sonic's chest as he looked up at him, confused.

Sonic's face came down to his in a swift motion, gentle lips connecting to metal muzzle. Metal froze, the new pressure on his muzzle and furry arms against his back sending his sensors into overdrive.

He felt sparks. Sparks in his head, strongest where Sonic's lips were. It was like getting a fresh reboot after being fully charged, only better. _So_ much better. It was hardly even a comparison.

Sonic pulled away after an unknown amount of time, dazed but content. He even smiled.

"Better late than never, right?"

Metal had barely heard him, completely lost in all the havoc the kiss had caused for his system. It'd just been so unexpected, and he couldn't help worrying if he'd done it correctly. Had the timing been right? Had it been a normal length of time for a kiss? How long _had_ it been anyway? Metal had completely lost track of time, and that _never_ happened.

Looking up at Sonic's face, Metal wondered if he felt the sparks too. He would've asked if he could've.

 _"Sonic."_

"Yeah—?" Sonic cut himself off, ears perking as he gazed down at Metal. "Uh..."

Time caught up with Metal. At first, he didn't understand why Sonic had been staring at him with such surprise, but then he realized; he'd _spoken._ His voice chip hadn't been broken after all.

"I, ah, hm..." Hearing his voice was weird - bizarre even - but also wonderful. It was _Sonic's_ voice, albeit more robotic. He couldn't have asked for anything better.

 _And,_ now that he had it, he could say anything he wanted. Without hesitation, he broke away from Sonic's grasp, making the signs with his hands as he spoke.

 _"Marry me."_

He wasn't going to let the opportunity go to waste. Before, ''kiss me'' had been inappropriate, but now was _perfect_ for proposing. They were together, and Sonic had initiated a kiss. All the pieces were in place. Granted, Metal currently had no minerals to offer, but he would certainly get one later on that Sonic would find acceptable. Nothing would be too perfect for Sonic, but Metal would nonetheless try his best.

Besides, he wanted him _now._ The offerings could be worked out later.

Sonic blinked, eyes wide and ears turned towards Metal. Then, he laughed, loud and hard, hand against his forehead as he struggled to breathe.

Before Metal could question him, he shook his head, calming himself down before replying, "Okay, but only if I get to be the groom."

"What?" Metal asked, not fully comprehending that his proposal had just been accepted. "Why?"

Sonic gave a toothy grin, amusement showing on his features as he eyed Metal up and down. "Because you'd look _way_ better in a wedding dress than me."

Rain fell on Metal's head, but evaporated immediately on contact.

Sonic chuckled. "Love you too."


End file.
